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Six losses into a season that could well see 10 times that many, and Nets coach Jordi Fernández is already falling on the proverbial sword.
This rebuild was always going to get ugly. But with his winless team showing no grit, defense or want-to, Fernández shouldered the blame after Sunday’s desultory 129-105 beating at the hands of the visiting 76ers.
“We go back to the same with poor defensive effort,” Fernández said. “I’m failing at trying to get my guys to play hard.
“I’m trying to ask them questions: How can I do it to get them to play really hard? And then you live with the result. I’m not living with this result because the effort is not there and the defense is not there. And we’re turning it over — 19 turnovers for 20 points. Until we don’t have that, we’re not gonna be able to fight for a win. It’s plain and simple. How many games is it gonna take? It’s six now.”
Make that 0-6, matching New Orleans as the only winless teams in the NBA.
While landing the top pick in the 2026 draft might be a top priority, make no mistake that Fernández and his players are trying to win. But they’re playing the exact opposite of winning basketball, and they know it.
“It’s everything. From the lack of attention to the body language. That all goes with energy. And like I said, it starts with me,” Fernández said. “I’m asking them to play really hard and to play with purpose, and we’re not doing it. So I’m doing something wrong besides the coverages.
“That’s the beauty of this job. There’s not always one thing that works for all the groups. This group is different than all the groups that I’ve worked with, and we want to create winning habits. And right now, we don’t have them. We’re very far from that. We’re actually on the other side. So, good experience.”
The Nets are stuck in their longest losing skid to start a season since dropping the first seven 10 years ago. It’s the third worst in team history.
Cam Thomas’ Nets-high 29 points and Michael Porter Jr.’s 17 points with career-high 17 rebounds were undercut by the team’s hideous defense.
The Nets allowed 52.1 percent shooting from the field. They allowed 29 points from Kelly Oubre Jr. — 22 in the first quarter — along with 26 by Tyrese Maxey and 22 off the bench from Quentin Grimes.
In short, they got lit up. Again.
While Fernández may be taking the fall for their abysmal defensive disarray, it’s the players who are spitting the bit.
“At the end of the day, he’s not the one that’s going out there and having to play defense. It’s on us,” admitted center Nic Claxton, who had 19 points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.
“We got to just lock in on the schemes, lock in, look ourselves in the mirror. Obviously, he’s going to take it tough. It’s tough for him, too. He’s a competitor. He wants to win and nobody wants to start out 0-6. But I feel like it’s on us, too, at the end of the day, all the players.”
Desperately looking to shake things up, Fernández benched rookie point guard Ben Saraf — who took a DNP after starting the first five games — in favor of journeyman Tyrese Martin, who went scoreless in 27:24.
The Nets hit just 7 of 38 from deep. Still, it wasn’t the shooting that saw the Nets fall behind by 28 points.
“Just our defensive presence. We know after every game we come here and say the same thing, our defensive presence, our defensive presence. So you know what it is. It’s obvious,” said Terance Mann, who acknowledged they have to figure out how to defend better at the point of attack.
“We’re gonna have to or we’re gonna keep losing. So, that’s what coach wants, if we don’t figure out how and have the willingness to do it, then it’s just gonna be the same results, to be honest. That’s just what it is.”
